in full bloom
by champion lyra
Summary: Her heart had known long before her head, it seemed. —GladionMoon, MahinaShipping / LonaShipping. For LonaShipping Week!


**Notes**

Hello, welcome to my first Mahina/LonaShip published fic! Kinda funny that it's taken me so long, seeing as I have some of the earliest and most popular AMVs for them up on youtube, lmao. It's why I will never stop using Mahina as the name pff. Anyways, this is unfortunately the only thing I was able to complete for the week, but it's still better than nothing, right? Can't wait to see all the cute stuff everyone makes!

Also, note that I use Mizuki instead of Moon for her name; mainly because when I first started writing the big fic I'm working on, she still didn't have a "canon" name haha. Mizuki is her name in Japan and also the name on the box of her Figma, so it's the name I go with. Shrug.

This is for day one, prompt: Injured. Hope y'all enjoy!

* * *

Most ways of getting injured felt stupid, but Mizuki hadn't felt this stupid in _years_. She was the Champion - the very first Alolan Champion, actually - and had been a Trainer for so long, at this point. Never had she ever gotten injured during a Pokemon battle before in her life, but here she was, lying on the ground nursing her ankle.

Instantly, the Pokemon battling halted, and she heard her opponent swear. "Mizuki?" Gladion called out from across the field, and she attempted to scramble up as to not embarrass herself any further.

Unfortunately, though, that was the wrong move. Shooting pain went up from her ankle, and almost instantly, Mizuki was back on the ground again, hissing as she went. "This is the worst," she mumbled to herself, refusing to look at anything but her ankle. She didn't know how she would ever meet Gladion's eyes again after this.

It was supposed to be just a fun Pokemon battle. Nothing too serious, no stakes or anything; just a one on one between themselves to pass the time. Summer in Alola, Mizuki had found out over the last few years, was a slow time for the region. It was a great place to vacation to, but for most, the summer was just a bit too hot and sticky, as most islands were. Hoenn had a similar problem, according to Kukui.

So here she was, supposedly doing something fun and routine, and had managed to do something so rare, there were apparently only a few cases a year reported in each region.

"I can't believe I've just become a statistic," she spat out, as she heard Gladion's footsteps approaching.

"Of course that's what you're upset about," he said, and though Mizuki still refused to look at him, she could hear the small smirk in his voice. "How bad is it, do you think?"

Eyes narrowed at the offending ankle, she gently poked around a bit, wincing with each sting. "Bad," she told him honestly, scowling at it.

They were both silent for a moment, only the sounds of their Pokemon conversing quietly behind them filling their ears. After a deep sigh, Mizuki finally worked up the courage to take a peek at Gladion, who she found staring off into space, frowning deeply.

"It's not your fault, you know," she said immediately, trying once again unsuccessfully to move herself upwards. "I'm a klutz. You know that." She wasn't as bad as Lillie, sure, but she was still pretty bad. Her Pokemon were constantly berating her for it - as was Gladion.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, and Mizuki knew from the sound of his voice that he didn't believe her. It had been Silvally's attack that she had been avoiding, so of course, in his mind, he had caused the problem. She wanted to smack him, sometimes. "Let's get you to a Pokemon Center, okay? I'll help you walk." Mizuki opened her mouth to protest, but she was cut off before she could even get a word in. "Don't even think about trying to walk on your own," Gladion continued, narrowing his eyes at her.

Hanging her head in defeat, Mizuki gave in, allowing her friend to carry her weight and get her onto her feet. From next to Silvally, Primarina looked at them in concern, but she waved her Pokemon off once her other arm was secured around Gladion. "Can I at least return my Pokemon?" She asked, voice sour.

"I'm not stopping you," he said with a roll of his eyes, already fishing out his own PokeBall to return Silvally.

She went ahead and did so; Primarina nodding at her before she had even finished taking out her PokeBall. Way back when, before she had become Champion, Gladion had been such a distant person. She had struggled a lot with trying to befriend him, especially with everything that had been happening with Lillie, Nebby, and their mother.

Back then, he hadn't really been one for talking much, and his anger management had needed… definite work. Now that they were real, actual friends, however, he was much more open to talking. Open to joking around with her, being sarcastic and a _person_, instead of an angry, scared shell of one.

Despite their small, almost jokey fights, despite how much he annoyed her sometimes, Mizuki was really happy with how much he'd improved. How much he'd come into his own; as a person, as a Trainer, as a friend.

Almost more surprising was herself - like him, when she had first moved to Alola, she had been a shell of her former self. Back before her father had left, she had been such an energetic girl; always talking and always excited over something or another. By the time she had moved, though, nobody would've believed her.

She had been so quiet, back then. Wanting to say things, but not really knowing how anymore. Lillie, Hau, they had both helped tremendously with making her feel like she was allowed to have thoughts, to have opinions again.

Gladion, too, had helped so much. Maybe it was because of how he was back then that she was able to grow. Maybe the same was true in reverse, as well.

"Does it hurt?" Gladion asked, breaking her out of her reverie.

Realizing what her spacing out might have come across as, Mizuki shook her head quickly. "Not as much as it could, probably," she said, glancing down at her good foot. "Honestly, I was thinking about how if someone told me, back when we first met, that in five years we'd be here," she trailed off for a minute, before looking back up at him, "I'd never have believed them."

Her companion blinked, unsure of what to make of that. Neither of them said anything for a moment, until Gladion decided to break the silence. "After all these years, you're still always surprising me," he said, shaking his head a little. His voice was soft - much softer than usual, and something about it made Mizuki's face feel warm. Much, _much _warmer than the summer heat. "Will you ever stop?"

The last line was so quiet, Mizuki wasn't even sure if she was supposed to hear it. She hummed, trying to will the red to leave her cheeks. "I hope not," she replied, a lot breathier than she had intended. "I've always liked surprising you."

They had grown into their interactions over the years; grown into a familiar back and forth, something familiar, and comfortable. This, however, was starting to feel almost like foreign territory. There had been times, back a few years ago, where they had fallen into conversations that felt similar, but they had both always stopped themselves from getting too wrapped up in it, for one reason or another.

Now, though, with no space in between them and the Pokemon Center still a long way's off, they finally had a chance to dissect what _this _was, exactly.

She wasn't sure exactly _when _they had stopped walking; _when _they had turned towards each other; but Mizuki found she couldn't look away.

Neither of them moved. It was normal for Mizuki to feel short when standing next to Gladion, but somehow, despite the fact that he still towered so high above her, she didn't feel short at all in that moment. They were so close she could feel his breath on her face; could see the faraway look in his green eyes.

It was more than she could take for very long.

Before she knew it, she was leaning closer into him, and before she could think too much about what she was doing, she closed her eyes and the distance between them - placing her lips directly on his.

Never had she ever tried to kiss someone before. The only other kiss she'd ever had was with Hau, and they had _immediately _agreed that it had felt wrong and weird and they'd never try that again. It's not like she hadn't really had the chance, but she'd never really cared about it before. About romance before.

As soon as her lips connected with Gladion's, though, Mizuki knew exactly why she had never bothered in the past to pursue anyone, or accept someone's advances. Her heart had known long before her head, it seemed.

Slowly, slowly, Gladion seemed to move himself a little against her lips, trying to ease himself into them a tiny bit more. She almost wanted to smile, but wasn't sure if she really _could _\- was that a normal thing to do, she wondered to herself? She went to go turn into him a bit more, but then-

Abruptly, she pulled away from him, hissing in pain as she raised her injured foot again. Completely caught up in the moment, Mizuki had forgotten all about the reason they were so close together in the first place. She moved her arm from around him to tenderly touch the injury, aggravated - both with the injury for hurting so much, and with herself for ruining her first real kiss.

Awkwardly, Gladion hovered around her, bright red in the face. "Are you okay?" He asked, unsure of what to do. He was embarrassed, obviously so, but Mizuki wasn't sure which of the two of them was worse off.

"I'm sorry," they both blurted out at the same time, before looking at each other in confusion.

"Why are _you_ sorry?" Mizuki asked, a little bit of laughter in her voice at the absurdity of the situation. "You're not the one forgetting your own injury."

He looked away, red spreading from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. "I know, but…" He trailed off, and didn't bother to even attempt to continue.

Shrugging, Mizuki then wrapped her arm around him once more for balance. Almost as if on instinct, Gladion did the same, steadying her as she went to hop again. "How about," she started, forcing down a gulp, "we continue that once I'm sitting down, and maybe not in pain?"

She wasn't sure why she was so nervous - this was Gladion. Someone who she'd known since her first few weeks into moving to Alola. Someone who had been with her through her entire journey, almost, and someone who she considered one of her best friends. This wasn't a person to be nervous around; this was her former rival.

"I'd like that," he said after a minute, and though she couldn't meet his eyes, she knew he was smiling. "I'd like that a lot."


End file.
